Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Hamilton – Autograph Letter Signed to Edmund Lodge, Correcting the Hamilton Peerage
A substantive autograph letter signed, “E. Hamilton,” from Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Joseph Hamilton, 1st Baronet, KCB (1772–1851), to the herald and antiquary Edmund Lodge, dated London, June 25th, 1832. Hamilton writes in response to Lodge’s letter, memoranda, and “New Peerage,” supplying what he calls “necessary corrections in my family” and identifying his line as “a collateral Branch of the Abercorn Family.”
Hamilton clarifies the entry for his father, Captain Sir John Hamilton, a Royal Navy officer whose baronetcy was created in 1776. He traces the family through the Hon. William Hamilton, brother of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, and asks that the relevant baronetcy dates be printed. In particular, he wants his father distinguished from Lieutenant-General Sir John Hamilton, another baronet, “to prevent future confusion,” since “both their Christian Names” were John.
The recipient, addressed on the integral leaf as “Mr Lodge / Bloomsbury / Square,” is evidently Edmund Lodge (1756–1839), then Norroy King of Arms and the name attached to the 1832 Peerage of the British Empire. The published work advertised itself as arranged from personal communications, and this letter is a striking survival of precisely that process: a titled naval officer correcting his family’s descent and honors for the new reference work.
Sir Edward Hamilton was one of the celebrated frigate captains of the French Revolutionary era. Commanding HMS Surprise in 1799, he led the boats that cut the former British frigate HMS Hermione out of the heavily defended Spanish harbor at Puerto Cabello after the ship had been surrendered by mutineers. Hamilton was wounded in the action and knighted for the exploit. He was made a KCB in 1815, created a baronet in his own right in 1819, and promoted rear-admiral in 1821; he ultimately attained the rank of admiral.
One manuscript page on a folded sheet with integral address leaf, measuring approximately 15 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches when open. Written in dark ink and signed at the close. The address panel bears contemporary postal markings and manuscript rate and docket numbers. Old mailing folds, scattered toning and handling soil, brown staining at the corners and address panel, small edge and fold wear, and an irregular cut-out notch near the address panel; the writing and signature remain strong and readily legible.
An unusually informative association letter joining a noted Royal Navy officer, the Hamilton family’s Abercorn descent, and the making of one of the nineteenth century’s best-known peerage reference works.
